Sony MDR-XD200 Stereo Headphones
by Sony
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Our Price: $49.99 Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Category: CE See more product details |
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Digital Cameras Photo Reviews of Sony MDR-XD200 Stereo Headphones
Customer Review: Haven't yet found a better value...all things considered.
Summary: 5 Stars
Comfort, price & quality were the primary factors in my purchase and satisfaction with these headphones. I wanted comfort for LONG listening sessions...check. It is not unusual for my music-addict self to spend listening sessions as long as 6 to 8 hours on headphones listening to music, so comfort was very important to me...if not slightly more important than quality, otherwise I'd have spent much money. I don't want the headphones to determine how often I HAVE to take a break from listening session. This is where these headphones excel. Very comfortable.
These are by no means noise-canceling but having previously used some expensive Bose noise-canceling headphones (which broke after their warranty expiration), I was not disappointed as that is not really my primary concern in my home where I primarily use them, often with the television going in the background. I multi-task in that regard anyway. At the same time, I also purchased the Sennheiser HD201 Lightweight Over-Ear Binaural Headphones. I haven't tried the Sennheiser HD 202 Dynamic Headphones yet and was generally hesitant due to all the reviews about comfort and fit. I can tell you that if I had to chose between the two I did purchase, the extra $10 was better spent on these Sony headphones. I am keeping the Sennheiser's as well; however, these Sony headphones will be my primary headphones. I also liked that these Sony headphones had the cord extending from only one ear versus the Sennheiser HD201's cords extending from both ears...just a small thing, not really that important. These Sony headphones are more adjustable and will fit a wider range of people than the Sennheiser HD201. Just read the other reviews on the Sennheiser HD201 & 202 and you'll see that to be true. The Sony earcups don't swivel from right-to-left, but only up-and-down. The Sennheiser earcups swivel both up-and-down and right-and-left. However, the Sony's slightly thicker padding, wider fit, better flexibility and better adjustments make these Sony headphones the best in comfort. The Sennheiser headphones fit so noticeably close to the ear so as to put slight pressure on the ear that I can already tell that they will be uncomfortable during my longer listening sessions. Better explained, there is very little actual space, if any, between your ears and the headphones on the Sennheiser HD201. That is not the case with these Sony headphones. They are very comfortable.
You will hear slightly less outside noise with the Sennheiser HD201, but again that wasn't an important factor for me. Don't be swayed either way by the "sound mode" feature on these Sony headphones. It does virtually nothing perceptible. I tried to figure out the difference. The best I could barely perceive was the 'movie' mode had insignificantly more bass and/or mid-range than the 'music' mode. I'm not influenced either way from this practically non-existent 'feature'.
For me it came down to this: I paid $10 more for these and received a dramatically more comfortable set of headphones. Almost forgot to mention, the Sennheiser HD201 is lacking on the bass. The Sony was lacking on the highs. I mean they are both under $22...so what do you expect? Let's not be pretentious here. They are both roughly comparable quality for the money...depending on what you prefer. I plan on wearing out this Sony first. Length of life and how well they will wear in the long term, that I don't know yet.
Customer Review: Best earphones for eyeglass wearers
Summary: 5 Stars
This review is aimed at those with eyeglasses and whose ears get pinched between the eyeglass arms and the earphones. I do not like to block up my ears with ear plugs all day for health concerns. I have bought and used these:
Sony MDR-CD230
Sony MDR-V6
Sony MDR-XD200
My ears are not real fussy on quality, nearly all headphones give my ears a problem by pressing them against my eyeglass arms and this hurts, usually after 10-20 minutes of listening. My hatsize if about 7.25,
my ears are pretty normal in size, I am middle aged. All three of these headphones I own are the best I have tried on or read reviews by eyeglass wearers over past 2 years. Headphones have a left and right side - the cord typically is attached to the left side, and the ear spaces, or cups, are oriented accordingly, to that the back of the ear lobe has more space to sit in than the front of the ear lobe. The sideways pressure (how hard they clamp onto your head) also is a secondary factor in whether my ears hurt. I wear wireframe glasses, and my use for headphones is background music while I program.
$30 The CD230 is no longer available, that I could find (Fall 2006), and I've used them for 5 years. They hurt my ears after 3-4 hours of continual use, but are good before that. They have cloth covered ear cushions, and relatively deep ear lobe spaces. This feature in all earphone seems to be the primary feature that determines whether my ears hurt or not. If you can find these, and like cloth covered headphones, you won't be unhappy. The sideways pressure is light for me.
$64 The V6 stands out for 2 things - richness and accuracy of the sound and blocking out outside office noises. Listening to classical music, not real loud, a co-worker can speak to my face and his voice is muffled pretty well. (Women's voices too). Overheard conversations are not overheard.
I have used these occaisionally for a couple months and my ears/head get sore after 1-2 hours. The sideways pressure is noticeably more than the other two, but not excessive. They are well cushioned, with soft fake thin leather-like vinyl which I did not find causes sweating at all. But there is not a large space for the ear lobes to sit, and this is what causes pressure after a while to build up uncomfortably I am sure. If I did not have my eyeglasses on, then these are very comfortable.
$26 The XD200 is a little lighter than the V6, it does not block out outside noises as well, which can be a benefit in the office because I can hear co-workers calling my name. The sideways pressure is light, the cushion is the same thickneess as the V6 but the ear space is much deeper for the earlobe, so for this reason it is the most comfortable of all headphones I've owned or tried. The cushions are covered in the thin leather-like vinyl like the V6 - this stuff feels like a paper much more than a plastic, it feels dry, not clammy. To my unprofessional ears the sound is great. If you wear eyeglasses, don't want to use ear plugs for hours at a stretch, then I think you will be happiest with the Sony MDR-XD200 headphones.
Customer Review: High quality, low, appropriate cost.
Summary: 5 Stars
My previous pair of headphones were Rosewill RMH-556 (not on Amazon anymore, thankfully),[...]so this isn't the first pair of headphones. In a nutshell, everything I hated about the Rosewill is fixed with the Sony pair.
Sound quality: I'd say overall it's more crisp, but one thing that's a bit more tangible is bass output. The Rosewill's are supposed to be 10Hz-25kHz vs the Sony's 10Hz-22kHz, however, I'd say that that's not quite accurate. I had VLC tuned to maximize the bass output of the Rosewill headphones, and the moment I switched over to the Sony's I noticed I could raise the bass slider a whole lot more without distorting the audio.
Ergonomics: The Rosewill is supposedly around-the-hear. It isn't. It touches your earlobe, which doesn't bother you at first, but after you wear them for a quite a few hours, your earlobe will start aching. The Sony headphones are much larger completely touch the sides of my head all the way around. I have a larger than average head (my caps/hats are 8") and this fits over my head with room to spare, whereas the Rosewill just barely made it.
These are much, much sturdier (I ended up breaking the Rosewills because they were so flimsy) and at the same time are incredibly lightweight. When I pick them up I'd expect them to way at least 3 times as much, so I guess that would make it less noticeable that you're wearing them.
The audio cable is plenty long for what I need, but I guess it could be a bit more insulated. Still at the same time it's snug and solid while still being lightweight (whereas the Rosewill's cord was loose against the earphone it connected to).
Without a doubt, these are worth the extra $6. Quite inexpensive and I'd probably be happy paying even $30-40 for these, but $20 is also fine with me :).
I did like having the little hardware volume-control dial on the Rosewill, but I guess that reduces the number of points of failure and I don't mind reaching an extra inch to adjust the volume of the device it's plugged in to I guess. No big deal there.
I would buy it again. And again.
Customer Review: An excellent value in affordable full size headphones
Summary: 5 Stars
I was in a jam... I could not locate my age-old Koss headphones from back when Koss was a higher-end brand than they are today - and I needed a pair of something that wasn't junk. I also wanted something that was...
1) Closed back
2) Fit around the ear
3) Cheap
I stumbled upon these locally, and paid more than the Amazon price - the down side of needing something NOW. I ended up with these headphones, and I must say I did not go wrong.
The overall sound quality is quite good. Midrange detail leans toward being pleasingly laid back yet nicely detailed. Treble is good overall, much better than expected. Midrange and treble detail is good enough to reveal shortcomings in MP3 vs. AAC vs. WMA vs. lossless.
But what was really the most unexpected surprise is the bass. Not only do these have a surprisingly good bass extension, they can handle respectable power. Chances are your MP3 player or computer sound card will run out of power before these run out of bass handling capability. These are, afterall, really a home headphone.
Sure, they are cheaply made. Yes the bass control feature is a silly frill that is nearly useless. They work, but whoooppeeee - they just allow more mid-bass to pass through to the listener (extended vs. full bass). But then again, look at the price. I can forgive their cheap build and sales gimmick.
What shines with these is how good they sound overall for the money. They are not $100 and up audiophile or true studio headphones, yet they give the average user a real taste of what high-end is all about. If you are looking for a cheap pair of home use headphones, I recommend seriously considering these. I give these 5 stars for the price point. If these were $50 street, I'd be more critical - if they were $100 street, I'd say keep walking. Actually I'd say spend the $25 and invest the balance in something else you can enjoy!
Customer Review: Awesome headphone for the hearing impaired with BTE aids
Summary: 5 Stars
I am hearing impaired and wear behind-the-ear (BTE) hearing aids. I recently started working in a cubicle environment, and needed a set of headphones in order to listen to my music while working. Ordinary headphones either cause feedback (an annoying whistling noise)from the hearing aids or require that the hearing aids be totally removed in order to use the headphones. Taking out my hearing aids isn't so bad for at home listening, but it is impractical in an office environment--having to take off the headphones and reinsert the hearing aids to answer a phone call or talk to someone that comes up to your desk is pretty awkward! My hearing aids have blue-tooth capability in order to send music directly to them, but it also shuts the microphones off so that I'm unaware of the phone ringing or someone coming up behind me. So, I searched on-line for headphones that would work well with hearing aids, and there wasn't much information available. I took a chance on these headphones, and wanted to share my experience with them in case there are other hearing-impaired people out there that want or need headphones that will work with their hearing aids in place.
These headphones are wonderful! They fit over the entire ear without causing feedback. The sound quality is very good at least from this hearing-impaired, non-audiophile's point of view. I work 10 hour shifts and have my music on for the majority of that time, and they are comfortable. I agree with other reviewers that the cord is too long, but that was easily solved by adjusting the twist tie that came wrapped around the cord. I do like the fact that only one cord comes out of the headphones instead of the traditional Y cord arrangement. As the picture shows, the muff that goes over your ears is quite large--not very fashionable, but this is what I believe makes it work so well with hearing aids.